Five Books of Moses

A major work of Jewish literary translation, Everett Fox's The Five Books of Moses renders the Torah, or Pentateuch — the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, traditionally ascribed to Moses — into an English designed to reproduce the sound, repetition, and root patterns of the Hebrew. Translated from Hebrew and based on the Masoretic Hebrew text, it is a fresh translation rather than a revision of any earlier English version. Its guiding philosophy is form-sensitive, or Hebraizing, literary translation, an approach associated with the German renderings of Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, which sought to convey the text as spoken word. Among its distinctive features is the use of unconventional syntax and repeated English roots to echo the style of the Hebrew. It has been received chiefly as a reading and study text for those interested in the literary texture of the original, and is often used alongside more conventional translations.